The World of Motorcycling- News detail

300 MotoGP wins for Italy. A history-making Aprilia top-four lockout. And a first victory since the Italian Grand Prix for Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing). That result, after the drama bubbled over in the Mandalika cauldron on Saturday, was desperately needed as Bezzecchi claws back crucial ground in the championship chase. Second place went to the heroic Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), who, despite two broken fingers, climbed onto the podium, while Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) pocketed P3 to retake the World Championship lead after Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) came home in P6.

Unlike in the Tissot Sprint, Turn 1 in the Grand Prix was attacked and negotiated without incident. Bezzecchi lunged up the inside of Fernandez to try and gobble up the holeshot and take the lead, but the Italian was slightly wide on the exit to allow the polesitter back through. Marc Marquez got away well, the Sprint winner was an early P3, with 2025 Indonesia winner Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) getting the better of Martin to grab P5, and then P4 from Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team).

Martin then picked his way past Di Giannantonio to move up to P5, before the fast-starting Aldeguer slipped out of contention at the tricky Turn 16 on Lap 2. That gave Martin a free pass to move into P4, but what wasn’t a free pass was what came half a lap later.

Martin, on the inside of Marc Marquez at Turn 10, fired his Aprilia through to climb ahead of his title rival. It was P3 for Martin now, P4 for Marquez, with Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) now hunting the pre-race World Championship leader. And on Lap 4, Acosta set the fastest lap of the Grand Prix.

ACOSTA VS MM93, BEZ SHADOWS FERNANDEZ

It felt like it had been coming for a couple of laps, and sure enough, Acosta pounced on the championship leader. Teammates next year. No teamwork this year, though. Acosta lunged at Turn 10, super late on the anchors, but boy did he nail the pass. A moment on the front-end came through Turn 11 for Acosta, but the #37 held onto P4 to shuffle Marc Marquez back to P5, and in the clutches of Di Giannantonio.

At the front, Fernandez held Bezzecchi at bay by 0.5s, with Martin lapping 1.9s away from his teammate’s rear Michelin tyre. It was as you were for a few laps before Bezzecchi netted the fastest lap of the Grand Prix, a 1:29.991, to begin adding some pressure to Fernandez. 0.4s was the slender gap, with Martin now 2.5s back.

On Lap 13, Marc Marquez was back ahead of Acosta. From the TV pictures, it looked like Acosta was forced to allow his 2027 teammate through, which seemingly meant tyre pressure problems were arising for the KTM star. Then, two laps later, the switch came at Turn 10. Was Marc Marquez now suffering from tyre pressure problems? Incredible.

BEZ MAKES HIS MOVE AS P4 SCRAP IGNITES

Back at the front. Lap 19 of 27, the lead changed for the first time since Turn 1, Lap 1. Bezzecchi carved his way past Fernandez to snatch the lead from the Trackhouse star, and on that very same lap, the Italian hammered home another fastest lap of the Grand Prix. With Fernandez running a little wide at Turn 1 after the move, Bezzecchi’s lead grew to an immediate 1.4s, with Martin riding in a lonely P3 – 2.4s behind Fernandez, 5.7s clear of the popcorn-consuming fight between Acosta, Marc Marquez, and now Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team).

Sure enough, the Japanese star pounced. Marc Marquez was shoved back to P6 on Lap 21 at Turn 16, as Ogura then set his sights on trying to make a move on Acosta. His teammate wasn’t giving Martin a sniff at P2 a little further up the road; Fernandez was digging in deep to maintain the gap to Martin, as Ogura then clawed his way past Acosta.

Not without a fightback from Acosta though. The KTM star returned the favour into Turn 13, but Ogura got the job done into Turn 16. Both needed to be careful not to beat each other up too much though, because the #93 was lurking.

APRILIA CLINCH HISTORIC 1-2-3-4

Last lap time then in Indonesia. Bezzecchi’s 3.3s lead meant the Italian could cruise to the flag to earn a much-needed victory, his first since Mugello, to keep his slim title hopes well and truly alive.

Chapeau to Fernandez. With not one, but two broken fingers sustained in the Sprint crash yesterday, Fernandez went above and beyond the call of duty to pocket P2 in Indonesia and also extracting the maximum from Sunday was Martin. The championship leader again. Two points the gap. As you were coming into the weekend. Martin’s 16 points were critical in Mandalika. And handing Aprilia their very first MotoGP 1-2-3-4 finish was Ogura, who did manage to fend off Acosta at the end of the Grand Prix. What a day for the Noale factory.

Acosta finished just a tenth away from Ogura to bag a hard-fought P5 in Mandalika, and just over a second behind the battle was Marc Marquez. P6 at the flag means the #93 slides back into P2 in the title chase, but the seven-time MotoGP World Champion would have taken a two-point deficit at the beginning of the weekend. Why? Because he’d never even finished a Grand Prix in Indonesia. And such was Aprilia’s superiority here; not losing any ground to Martin signals a job well done ahead of a trip to Phillip Island.

Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Di Giannantonio crossed the line in P7 and P8, with the Italian only just holding off ninth-place Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). P10 went to Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3), with the other points going to Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in P12, Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) in P13, Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) in P14, and Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) in P15.

Indonesia hosted its fair share of drama. And as we look ahead to our final date with the beautiful Phillip Island, the title race remains finely poised. Two points separate Martin and Marc Marquez, with Bezzecchi, the underdog, 46 points away. Tantalising.

MotoGP Indonesia Grand Prix results!

Moto2™: hat-trick hero Guevara wins dramatic Mandalika battle as gap tightens to Gonzalez

How about that for a drama-drenched Moto2 race at the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia? Coming out on top, for the third time in a row, was red-hot Izan Guevara (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) as the title race gap between the Spaniard and Manuel Gonzalez (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) reduces further – but not by much. Gonzalez limited the damage done with a fine ride to P2, while after late heartbreak arrives for race leader Alex Escrig (KLINT Racing Team) on the penultimate lap, Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Power Electronics Aspar Team) – who was involved in a four-rider, red-flagged Turn 1 crash – ends his weekend with a return to podium ways.

As we went racing in Moto2, there was immediate drama at Turn 1. Four riders were down, including both CFMOTO Power Electronics Aspar Team riders in David Alonso and Holgado, with the latter tagging the back of his teammate into the opening corner to send the duo down. Alonso was brutally launched into the air, while Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team) had nowhere to go on the outside line and collected the stricken bike of Holgado’s, sending the American sliding down the road too. Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was then left with no option but to run into the barrel-rolling, out-of-control Kalex-Triumph of Alonso, which caused Veijer to crash at Turn 1 too.

Thankfully, all four riders were able to return to the pit lane and were relatively unscathed after the red flags were shown. Unfortunately for Alonso, with the fuel tank being ripped out in the crash, amongst other significant bike damage, his Sunday in Indonesia wouldn’t be restarted. Rotten luck for the Colombian. There were better fortunes for Holgado, Roberts, and Veijer though – all three left pit lane in time to take up their spots on the restart grid, but Roberts then peeled back into the box before lights out. Clearly something wasn’t quite right on the American’s machine, and we subsequently learned it was a rear brake problem. Just like Alonso, a slice of terrible luck for Roberts.

There were no such issues for Escrig, though. The Spaniard grabbed the holeshot to dip his wheels ahead of Guevara at the start, with Holgado third before Ivan Ortola (QJMOTOR – JP Financial – MSI) battled past the #96. That changed hands again on Lap 2 with Gonzalez pouncing up to P6, then P5, as we clicked onto Lap 3.

By Lap 6, a clear top five had formed. Escrig led Guevara by 0.8s, Holgado held P3 and sat 0.8s behind Guevara’s rear tyre, with fourth place Ortola being caught by Gonzalez. And soon enough, P4 was now in the hands of the championship leader on Lap 7.

P4 became P3 for Gonzalez not too long after. Holgado didn’t have the pace to remain in the podium-paying positions, and with five laps to go, the title race frontrunner sat in the bronze medal position. Three seconds up the road, Guevara was making moves too. No passes yet, but the #28 was beginning to reel in race leader Escrig.

But Escrig did then pick up the pace on Lap 12 of 14. We were about to strap in for a proper fight for the win in Indonesia between Escrig and Guevara for the win, before a technical issue halted Escrig’s Lombok stormer. Cruel in the extreme. Escrig’s wonderful weekend ended with a woeful bit of luck, and that allowed Guevara to take over the P1 baton.

And he didn’t flinch. A hat-trick of wins for Guevara, as the gap to Gonzalez comes down again – but only by five points as the #18 bounces back from a disappointing Saturday to earn 20 crucial points in this compelling title chase. 6.5 points now the margin.

Third went to Holgado after Escrig’s technical problem, and after his Turn 1 crash, his rollercoaster Sunday ends on a high. Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) was another rider, like his teammate, who delivered a classy comeback ride on Sunday. The Australian clinched P4 from P13 on the grid, with Daniel Muñoz (Italtrans Racing Team) closing out the top five ahead of Ortola.

Filip Salač (OnlyFans American Racing Team) crossed the line in P7, 1.6s clear of Alonso Lopez (ITALJET Gresini Moto2), Tony Arbolino (REDS Fantic Racing), and Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Tech3) – those were the riders closing out the top 10 in Indonesia.

A weekend off arrives before this compelling Moto2 title race revs back into life at Phillip Island. See you there.

Moto2 race results from Indonesia!

Moto3™: Quiles crowned Moto3 World Champion with Mandalika victory

The Championship race is over as victory for Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) secured the Moto3 World Championship for the Spaniard. A glittering campaign of ten wins so far, he led from Lap 2 onwards, pulled out an advantage and never looked back for one of his most dominant wins of the season ahead of nearest challenger David Almansa (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) and Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo).

From P2 on the grid it was a perfect launch to grab the holeshot for Almansa whilst Quiles was already into P2 on Lap 1. However, it was a barnstorming second lap that saw the gloves really come off, with Quiles in the lead as Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) battled his way into the podium places. The rough and tumble was starting to fragment the group and Almansa was the rider who was paying the price; with title rival Quiles leading, Almansa was down to P8.

On Lap 3, it was Grand Prix done for Casey O’Gorman (SIC58 Squadra Corse) who crashed at Turn 5, whilst teammate Leo Rammerstorfer joined him in a separate incident. Further round the lap, Ryota Ogiwara (CODE Motorsports) came to grief whilst back in the lead pack, Almansa was back into P2 by Lap 5. A mistake by Quiles at Turn 16 gave the chasing pack hope, the gap to chief title rival Almansa down to 1.6s.

Half GP distance complete and things had started to spread out with Quiles 1.5s clear of Almansa, Fernandez and Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) who in-turn were 1.6s clear of Rico Salmela (Red Bull KTM Tech3). On Lap 11, disaster for Carpe who tagged the back of Fernandez and crashed at Turn 10 and although the #31 could continue, he was back in the group behind and then made a mistake at Turn 2 a lap later. More drama at the end of the lap, this time for Adrian Cruces (CIP GreenPower) who crashed at Turn 16 but was able to rejoin.

Lap 14 and two seconds out front, Champion-designate Quiles picked up a track limits warning, the #28 had no room for error. With a 2.8s advantage with two laps to go though, he had the margin to relax and keep it wheels in line, despite Almansa’s efforts.

Across the line and doing it in the most Quiles style possible, the Championship leader became the World Champion with a tenth victory of the season and with five rounds remaining. A magnificent campaign going to a deserving World Champion whilst Almansa was a solid second and strengthens his grasp on P2 overall. Third went the way of Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) after the Spaniard pounced to pass Matteo Bertelle (LEVELUP-MTA) on the final lap.

Salmela matched his career-best result in fifth ahead of home-hero Veda Pratama (Honda Team Asia), whereas Guido Pini (Leopard Racing) resisted teammate Fernandez for P7 at the line but due to a shortcut at Turn 9, was given a Long Lap Penalty equivalent so was P8 in the end. Joel Esteban (LEVELUP-MTA) was ninth whilst Scott Ogden (CIP GreenPower) completed the top ten.

Quiles taking the title with five rounds remaining puts him in an exclusive club of riders who have done that across all classes. Mike Hailwood, Giacomo Agostini and Marc Marquez were the only three that had managed it but now, Maximo Quiles’ name is part of a unique club of riders.

The title race is done but with five rounds still to go, plenty of battles remain in 2026!

Moto3 Grand Prix of Indonesia results